Setting up your Internet address

  • Article

Applies To: Windows SBS 2008

Setting up your Internet address is an important step in configuring your server. You must complete this task if you want to use Remote Web Workplace, or send and receive e-mail over the Internet.

To configure the technologies that the server uses to enable these key network features, Windows SBS 2008 includes the Internet Address Management Wizard. To run this wizard, click the Set up your Internet address task from either the Home or Connectivity pages of the Windows SBS Console. The wizard guides you through a number of steps that help you configure your Internet presence.

The following sections describe these steps and outline the choices that you must make.

Before you begin

When you click the Set up your Internet address task in the Windows SBS Console, the Internet Address Management Wizard appears. This page advises you about prerequisite information that you should have on hand before you proceed.

Network users will use the Internet domain name that you specify in the wizard to access their e-mail and your organization’s internal Web site. You can also use your Internet domain name to direct Web traffic to an Office Live Small Business Web site or to another business Web site.

Do you want to register a new domain name?

When you use the Internet Address Management Wizard to configure your Internet address, you remove much of the overhead and risk that is associated with configuring these settings manually.

If you do not have a domain name, the wizard makes it easy to find and research a variety of domain name providers who have partnered with Windows SBS 2008 to offer their services. These partners must meet rigid standards for being able to keep your domain records current. If you already own a domain name, the wizard can configure that name for you as well.

On this page, select one of the following options:

  • I want to purchase a new domain name.

  • I already have a domain name that I want to use.

How do you want to manage your domain name?

On this page of the wizard, choose whether you want the server to monitor and maintain your domain status, or whether you want to manage the domain status yourself.

Select one of these two options:

  • I want the server to manage the domain name for me.

    Choose this option if you want the server to monitor and maintain the status of your domain and to alert you if there is a problem.

Note

This option requires your domain name to be registered with one of the domain name providers that the wizard recommends. If you currently use a provider that is available to select in the list that appears later in the wizard, you should continue to use that provider to ensure that your domain name is available on the Internet as quickly as possible. If the wizard does not list your current domain name provider, select another provider to whom you want to transfer your domain name. By doing this, the server can manage your existing domain name. 

If you choose to have the server manage the domain name for you, the wizard configures these components:  
  
  - Domain Name System (DNS)  
      
  - Certificate Authority  
      
  - Internet Information Services (IIS)  
      
  - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) mail policies for Exchange Server  
      
  - The UPnP architecture, if supported by your router

  • I want to manage the domain name myself.

    If you choose this option, the server does not monitor or maintain your domain name, and it does not alert you if there is a configuration issue. You might also consider this option if any of the following are true:

    • No partner domain name providers are listed for your country or region.

    • The partner domain providers listed do not support your domain name extension.

    • The wizard does not list the domain name extension that you want to use, but the extension is available from a domain name provider that is not currently a partner.

If you choose to manage the domain name yourself, you must add the DNS resource records that are listed in the following table.

Note

The settings in this table assume that you choose “remote” as the host prefix for your server. The table references the domain contoso.com as an example. Replace instances of contoso.com with the domain name that you purchased.
To customize the host prefix, click the Advanced settings link on the Store your domain name information page of the Internet Address Management Wizard.

Resource Record Name Record Type Record Setting Description

Remote

A

Static IP address of the Wide Area Network (WAN) side of your router or firewall

Maps your domain name to the WAN IP address (provided by your Internet service provider (ISP)) of the router or software firewall that helps protect your network from the Internet. It is recommended that you lease a static IP address from your ISP.

MX

Alias (CNAME)

Remote.contoso.com

Provides e-mail message routing for e-mail@contoso.com to arrive at your Windows SBS 2008 mailboxes.

SPF

TXT

v=spf1 a mx ~all

Resource record that helps prevent e-mail sent from your server being identified as spam.

Note
Some domain name providers offer SPF building tools that you can use.

_autodiscover._tcp

SRV

Service: _autodiscover

Protocol: _tcp

Priority: 0

Weight: 0

Port: 443

Target host: remote.contoso.com

Enables Office Outlook 2007 with Service Pack 1 and Windows Mobile 6.1 e-mail clients to automatically detect and configure Outlook Anywhere (RPC over HTTP).

For information about how to add DNS records to your server, open Windows Help and Support, and then search for the topic “Add a Resource Record to a Zone.”

Contact your domain name provider and ask them to help you configure the domain name records properly.

Type the domain name that you want to register or use

Your domain name is a critical piece of information. It identifies your business name and the nature of business both internally and on the Internet. It is also an essential component of the network settings that your server configures.

Important

If you plan to publish your Remote Web Workplace Web site, specify only the domain name (for example, contoso.com), and do not precede your domain name with the “www” domain prefix. This way, your Remote Web Workplace Web site will be available to remote users.

If you plan to register a new domain name or to use a domain name that you already own, type that name in the text box, and then select the domain extension that you want to use. For more information, see Choosing an Internet domain name.

If you do not plan to establish an Internet presence for your organization at this time, you can specify any domain name. If you decide to register a domain name later, perform the Set up your Internet address task again at that time.

Choose a domain name provider

After you specify the domain name that you want, the wizard returns a list of potential domain name providers that work with Windows SBS 2008. The list is composed of partner providers who collectively represent all available domain name extensions for the country or region that you specified in the company information settings for your server. To learn more about a provider, click the associated Web link.

As an option, you can also send your postal address information to the provider. This can help the provider suggest alternate domain names if the name you want is not available. For more information, see Choosing a domain name provider.

Choose a different domain name

If you choose a domain name provider from the list, the wizard contacts the provider’s server and requests information about that domain name. Every Internet domain name must be unique, so the provider checks to see if the domain name is available to register. If the name is not available, the provider returns a list of possible alternate domain names. You can either select one of the alternate names or search for different name.

Register and purchase the domain name

After verifying that a domain name is available to register, the wizard displays the domain name and domain name provider that you chose. At this time, you can choose to register or transfer the domain name. This opens the domain name provider’s registration form in a new browser window.

Important

Do not close the wizard. You must return to the wizard after you register your domain name to complete the server configuration.

Store your domain name information

If you choose to have the server automatically monitor and manage your Internet domain name, type the user name and password that you registered with your domain name provider. Windows SBS 2008 stores this information on the server and periodically sends it to your provider to maintain your domain. The wizard provides a link to the privacy statement for your review.

Important

By default, the Internet Address Management Wizard configures a domain prefix of “remote” for your server. To change the prefix, click Advanced settings. However, you should not leave the Domain prefix box blank or use a prefix of www. If you leave the Domain prefix box blank or use a prefix of www, the wizard configures your Web site to be located on your server. This configuration prevents you from having your business Web sites at other locations, such as Office Live Web sites.